Mumbai: The outlook for hiring in the manufacturing sector has marginally improved but the sentiments still remain weak, according to a survey by FICCI.
The latest quarterly survey of the sector for July-September showed that 80 per cent of the respondents said that they are not likely to hire additional workforce in the next three months.
“This presents a slightly improved situation in the hiring scenario as compared to the previous quarter Q1 of 2020-21, where 85 per cent of the respondents were not in favor of hiring additional workforce,” it said.
The manufacturing sector witnessed some recovery during the July-September quarter compared to the preceding quarter, according to the survey.
The percentage of respondents reporting higher production in second quarter of 2020-21 increased in comparison to the first. The proportion of respondents reporting higher output during July-September rose to 24 per cent, as compared to 10 per cent in Q1 of 2020-21.
The percentage of respondents expecting low or same production is 74 per cent in Q2 2020-21, as against 90 per cent in Q1 of 2020-21.
The overall capacity utilisation in manufacturing has witnessed a rise to 65 per cent as compared to the preceding two quarters. During the first quarter of the current fiscal, manufacturing, other than the essential goods, was nearly halted and in the fourth quarter of FY20, capacity utilisation was recorded at 61.5 per cent.
The survey, however, found that the future investment outlook is subdued as only 18 per cent respondents reported plans for capacity additions for the next six months as compared to 22 per cent in the previous quarter.
